Must Have Baby Items

Congratulations! You've got babies on the brain. Whether your pregnant now, hope to be in the future or know someone who is expecting, let me tell you baby brain is a REAL thing. So before your brain turns to cheek squishing, baby talking mush, its a good idea to find some items to help you and your little one be well taken care of in the first year and beyond.

The excitement, stress, sleepless nights, and joy of having a baby can be overwhelming. When I was pregnant with my little guy I was so excited but also extremely nervous the entire time since my previous pregnancy ended abruptly in miscarriage. And even though I am a nurse, I swear I googled and researched my heart out over every little thing. Thankfully we had a great pregnancy and now are the proud parents of the most perfect little man.
 
Now my little guy is growing so fast and getting more independent everyday. I wanted to take this opportunity to reflect back on all the things that were truly worthwhile investing in and the items that were more of a fad that I shamelessly over shopped on because I thought every cute item was a must have.

Baby Brezza Formula Pro

 The Baby Brezza is one of my most used items! I agree that just Fed is Best, so whether you breast or formula feed, all that matters is that your baby is happy and healthy. We breast fed as long as we could, he lost interest at 6months ( and also got 8 teeth at that same time!) so worked out perfectly that he was happy to switch to formula. The baby brezza is a life saver, so efficient and easy to use. It makes bottles in different amounts (2,4,6,8,10oz options) that are at the perfect temperature every time in less then 30seconds! Highly recommend this to save yourself the hassle of boiling and premixing bottles, makes night time feeds easier and is the cleanest/most organized way to bottle feed.

Skip Hop Downtown Chelsea Bag

 The next most used item is a good diaper bag.
Leaving the house with a baby, especially a new baby is a daunting task. The best way to stay organized and time efficient is to have a good well packed diaper bag. There are lots of different options but just make sure you find the bag that suits your needs. Chose a bag with a good durable strap. Convertible bags are super handy since you may want to use it as a over the shoulder bag when you are carrying babe in carseat, but once your little one grows and is no longer contained in the bucket seat a backpack is super handy for running errands.

Color Block Tote Diaper Bag

Honest Company City Diaper Bag

JJ Cole Tri Stitch Bag

Medela Pump In Style

Medela Swing Pump

The next item that is also a must have for new moms is a breast pump! The medela pump comes in a variety of options that can suit your needs. I recommend a double pump if you plan on exclusively pumping or plan on pumping everyday to build up a freezer supply/ bottle feed. Breast feeding is much harder then you would think and can be very uncomfortable at times. I exclusively breast fed for 6 months, but I still required a pump for when things got uncomfortable to avoid getting clogs or mastitis ! I liked using the Medela Swing pump. It was an affordable option for us to use occasionally. I did use it more in the beginning to build up a freezer supply ( just in case we wanted to go out for a couple hours and let grandma babysit) and then I used it near the end of our breast feeding journey when my baby was sleeping longer but irregular periods at night and when he was weaning off the breast.

Round Activity Playmat

Reversible Mat

Besides all the adorable nursery room decor, which there are way to many options to list, another must have item is a good play mat! I recommend picking a mat that will be suitable to use for a long period of time. Chose a good mat for tummy time and play time as a newborn, but something durable that won't get wrecked easily by a toddler. Also there are so many cute options, chose a mat that can double as decor in babies room as they grow and might want there own little corner or reading nook to play in as they get older.

Graco Click Connect Fast Action Jogger

Summer Infant 3D Lite

Another great investment for you and your child is a good stroller. Now there are a lot of variables when it comes to choosing the right stroller for your family. The size of your vehicle, number of children, age of children, and daily needs will all influence which stroller would work best for you. Buy Buy Baby has a huge selection to choose from. For us we decided to get a good quality travel system, which included the bucket car seat that could attach to stroller,and was a jogging stroller. We chose this option because it worked best for a newborn and then transitioned perfectly to have a toddler in the stroller seat. We chose the jogger stroller because we walk a lot outside and it was very durable.Unfortunately there is no magical perfect all in one stroller. So it worked out great for us to have the durable jogger stroller for activities but then I also picked up a more affordable and way smaller stroller to leave in the car for errands. Strollers like the Summer Infant 3D Lite are perfect because they are super lightweight, fold up easily to fit in any vehicle and have a small storage bin which is perfect to hold items when running errands or shopping in stores.

There are endless options of baby items for you and your child and I will add more to this post as I can. But as a first time mom myself, I would recommend to all new mamas to do some research before buying lots of baby items. The first year goes by so fast and children grow out of everything at a record pace! I hope this post can give you some ideas for what to look for but also remember to enjoy every moment of pregnancy and motherhood!

Find these items and more at BUY BUY BABY and TARGET

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